Victor Vito and Michael Ala'alatoa on the verge of joining an exclusive Champions Cup club

Victor Vito and Michael Ala'alatoa on the verge of joining an exclusive Champions Cup club

Victor Vito and Michael Ala'alatoa could join an elite list of players who have won the Champions Cup and Super Rugby title this weekend.

 

Leinster and La Rochelle lock horns in the final at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille on Saturday as Leinster go in search of their fifth Champions Cup title while La Rochelle attempt to win their first.

 

If Leinster is successful, Johnny Sexton, Devin Toner, and Cian Healy will become the most decorated players in the tournament's history by each claiming a fifth winner's medal.

 

To date, six players have won on four occasions: Cédric Heymans (CA Brive/Stade Toulousain), Fréderic Michalak (Stade Toulousain/RC Toulon) and the Leinster quartet of Sexton, Healy, Isa Nacewa and Devin Toner.

 

Meanwhile, Victor Vito (La Rochelle) and Michael Ala'alatoa (Leinster) battle it out to become the 12th player to have won Super Rugby and the Champions Cup as players.


 

Vito was part of the Hurricanes side that beat the Lions 20-3 back in 2016, with now Leinster scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park coming off the bench.

 

Ala'alatoa won three Super Rugby titles in a row with the Crusaders, two with Ronan O'Gara as the assistant coach, and added two Super Rugby Aotearoa titles before joining Leinster.


 

Former Wallaby Rod Kafer was the first player to achieve this feat, winning Super Rugby in 2001 with the Brumbies before joining Leicester Tigers and winning the Champions Cup a year later.

 

Doug Howlett followed Kafer some six years later, winning Super Rugby with the Blues in 2003 and the Champions Cup with Munster in 2008.

 

Brad Thorn won Super Rugby in 2009 with the Crusaders and the Champions Cup in 2012 with Leinster, having won the Rugby World Cup in 2011 too.

 

Bakkies Botha joined Toulon in 2011 and went on to win three Champions Cups with the French outfit, having won three Super Rugby titles with the Bulls. Bulls' teammates Danie Rossouw and Bryan Habana did the same with the Bulls and Toulon.

 

Matt Giteau also won three titles with Toulon after winning Super Rugby in 2004 with the Brumbies, while Ali Williams won the Champions Cup with Toulon and Super Rugby with the Blues in 2003 and Crusaders in 2008.

 

Jamison Gibson-Park won the Champions Cup in 2018 with Leinster after coming off the bench in the 2016 Super Rugby final.

 

Finally, Sean Maitland and Will Skelton are the latest players to complete the double with Saracens in 2019. Maitland was a Super Rugby champion in 2008 with the Crusaders, while Skelton was part of Michael Cheika's successful Waratahs' side in 2014.

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